Attention newbies!!
- Thread starter aquitted
- Start date
Just in case you have not seen it, this should be the good info for newbies who are considering the trucking business.
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Profile 2012 | Recent Research | OOIDA Foundation
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Profile 2012 | Recent Research | OOIDA Foundation
I started expediting on my own with Panther in 2007. I had 300 dollars to my name and a cargo van. I've been through three cargo vans since 2007 and a lot of maintenance and repairs, a major medical illness, and building and selling a small expedite company. I ended the business last year with 15k in the bank. I'd be in better shape if I hadn't sold my van for a low price a few months back, but the engine oil pressure was 25 on the highway with the manual oil pressure gage hooked up to the block.
I couldn't justify putting a new engine and more money into a truck what will be 10 years old in a couple more months. This job is like gambling. Sometimes you have to hold your chips, sometimes you have to fold your cards, and sometimes you have to cash out completely and walk away. I'm still contemplating getting back into the game next year if things get better load wise, and if my health continues to improve. I pretty much paid all of my bills, stayed in some pretty nice hotel rooms, ate at some good restaurants, and had a good time for the most part when I was driving my van.
I never got rich, never had healthcare, never invested in a retirement account, but there isn't really a lot of money leftover after expenses to do such things. All you're going to net as a cargo van driver is 25-30 thousand dollars a year. Always keep five thousand in savings for maintenance, breakdowns, and vehicle replacement. Always keep another five thousand in checking for the day to day operations of the business. Always keep at least enough money in cash in your van to be able to drive home from any part of the country if things get bad for you out on the road.
Some people in my family would trip when they saw that I had 10 thousand dollars just sitting there in a bank account. There were like you should be living it up. Then I had to explain to them that what we do is not like a regular job. I have to save my money for different scenarios and for the lien times. That is how I've survived through 1 repossession, 1 blown engine, and now another van that has bit the dust.
I consider myself to be a great chess player. But you aren't going to get rich doing this job. The rates have been on the decline for quite some time now despite the fact that expenses are going up minute by minute. It really comes down to a lifestyle choice. Do you want to make 1600 a month working a nine to five job for 10 bucks an hour, or do you want to drive a cargo van and net 2000 dollars a month and take 6 weeks off each year?
The only benefit that the nine to five job will give you is possibly employer paid healthcare, and you would be putting money into you social security account. That is only a good thing if social security will actually be there by the time you retire. Other than those two things, the cargo van might very well be the better of the two choices. Good luck in your next venture Acquitted!
I couldn't justify putting a new engine and more money into a truck what will be 10 years old in a couple more months. This job is like gambling. Sometimes you have to hold your chips, sometimes you have to fold your cards, and sometimes you have to cash out completely and walk away. I'm still contemplating getting back into the game next year if things get better load wise, and if my health continues to improve. I pretty much paid all of my bills, stayed in some pretty nice hotel rooms, ate at some good restaurants, and had a good time for the most part when I was driving my van.
I never got rich, never had healthcare, never invested in a retirement account, but there isn't really a lot of money leftover after expenses to do such things. All you're going to net as a cargo van driver is 25-30 thousand dollars a year. Always keep five thousand in savings for maintenance, breakdowns, and vehicle replacement. Always keep another five thousand in checking for the day to day operations of the business. Always keep at least enough money in cash in your van to be able to drive home from any part of the country if things get bad for you out on the road.
Some people in my family would trip when they saw that I had 10 thousand dollars just sitting there in a bank account. There were like you should be living it up. Then I had to explain to them that what we do is not like a regular job. I have to save my money for different scenarios and for the lien times. That is how I've survived through 1 repossession, 1 blown engine, and now another van that has bit the dust.
I consider myself to be a great chess player. But you aren't going to get rich doing this job. The rates have been on the decline for quite some time now despite the fact that expenses are going up minute by minute. It really comes down to a lifestyle choice. Do you want to make 1600 a month working a nine to five job for 10 bucks an hour, or do you want to drive a cargo van and net 2000 dollars a month and take 6 weeks off each year?
The only benefit that the nine to five job will give you is possibly employer paid healthcare, and you would be putting money into you social security account. That is only a good thing if social security will actually be there by the time you retire. Other than those two things, the cargo van might very well be the better of the two choices. Good luck in your next venture Acquitted!
Sylectus freight goes cheaper because it has already be syphoned through at least one or two brokers. There are a lot of people hauling cheap freight on Sylectus. It makes me wonder why they call themselves trucking's most powerful network. I also had a hard time finding people to move freight when I had it from direct customers. A lot of times carriers wouldn't answer their phones after hours, and their trucks were not properly updated. I'd call carriers and they would tell me that the truck they had posted in a certain city was no longer there and that they forgot to update it.
Another problem with Sylectus is all of the double and triple brokered freight. That is why cargo van loads go for so cheap. There are a few companies on Sylectus that double broker loads for FedEx "with their permission" all day and night. So the load is going through two brokers before the trucking company takes their cut, and then the driver gets his cut. I think the trucking industry is doing better because you don't have to play the double broker game with them. Take for instance quite a few of the Automotive based freight load boards. They won't allow you to see their freight unless Ford, GM, or Chrysler calls them and says add this carrier. Or some like Active will allow anyone to get onto their board, but they won't award you any loads. You can sit there and bid on 10 loads a day for 1 whole year, and no matter what price you bid, you'll never get the load. The expedited load boards play too many games and that leads to lower prices.
Take for instance Landstar. One of the most safety consciences carriers in the industry. They will allow a new company with only 1 month on safer web to haul freight for them. They will do this as long as you have no safety rating, or a satisfactory safety rating. The same goes for CH Robinson, the largest broker in the united states. They will give a fair shot to anyone who signs up with them as a partner carrier. They also do not double broker freight, as their freight mostly comes right from the source. They also offer very reasonable quick pay on the loads and you never have to worry about getting burned by them.
If it was easier to get into the expedite market, and double brokering was more adequately policed, the rates might go up a bit higher for cargo vans and straight trucks. Just because a carrier is new doesn't mean that the people who are running it are new to the industry. It doesn't mean that they won't do just as good of a job as any other carrier out there. Sometimes cutting out the little guy mean that you get this result. A small group of carriers hogging up all of the good freight, charging the third party logistics company top rates, then re-brokering that same freight out to smaller carriers on Sylectus for less than desirable rates.
I'm not bashing Sylectus just to bash them. I wish they would police these types of practices a little bit more than they do at this current point in time. These are things that should be discusses openly and frequently by the leaders in our industry. Also the multi-carrier model has had a large impact on rates, but it doesn't have to. If carriers would stick to their guns and bid decent tariff's on all of the loads they move, it would be less about price and more about service. Load One seems to be one of the few carriers that stick to this game plan. And this is a very good game plan if all of the other carriers would make a pact to do the same. We shouldn't allow shippers and brokers to rob us to the point where we can't make a living out here on the road. Sorry for the lecture Lawrence. I'm just getting so frustrated at how the cargo van drivers are being slowly prices into bankruptcy.
I'm trying to understand this 1/3 thing. A team would have to gross $300k to keep $100k in a paid for truck?
We have kept between 50 and 60 percent each year for the past three years. And we are just a surface expedite straight truck.
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We have kept between 50 and 60 percent each year for the past three years. And we are just a surface expedite straight truck.
Sent from my EVO using EO Forums mobile app
Not going anywhere yet but I am constantly looking at options. not trying to get rich just pay the bills. I will atleast run this through the year unless something better comes up. Also stay in contact with A J.D. Clark driver to see if things are picking up over there since thats where I made the best per mile money. Shippers just don't want to pay his rate and he doesn't back down even in hard times. Gotta admire someone who sticks to their rate.
I think the main problem is you only made a little over 32,000 in 5 months.... our goal is 16 to 25 a month.
No apologize necessary. Sylectus is simply software, it's the users who use it that determine what the rates are. My earlier point is if someone is saying the industry has to many trucks, let's look at what the numbers say. Graphs and numbers are what they are - they're information that tell us the facts - it may not reflect one persons personal experience, just the data.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
Aquitted, over the last 15 years expedited has been up and down. It goes in cycles. This year is bad so far but but it will turn around just like it has in the past. Hold on cause maybe next year you'll probably be screaming for time off. I don't really remember the time frame of the last low point would have to look it up, but it will get better. As soon as capacity levels turn around the rates will go back up and so on and so on. Hang in there.
Thanks for the words of experence and encouragement it means a lot.
I actually think that we are losing trucks. I think all of the running freight for cheap prices is catching up with a lot of carriers and O/O's. I think a lot of people are being forced out of the market. Just my two cents.
It may be just a software but its a pretty powerful network and has many flaws that continue to cause rates to decline due to the fact of all the double and triple brokering that goes on and the false capacity that's posted due to all the multi carrier operators. they have to many subscribers that are bidding the same vehicles for the same loads. and dispatchers are telling operators they need to be able to bid crap rates in order to get the loads. all false. I like the courier exchange much better and think if everyone talked to Sam they would all see there is a much cheaper option based in the US that when you click on the unit you will be able to see all the carriers that unit runs for. that alone can be valuable info. many of the better sylectus carriers are already using it. if the carriers can save a ton of money could that not benefit the operators even if it is just the qual com fees? Most of us multi carriers that run vans have to cover the cost of our own insurance anyway so why should we let carriers set the rates based on artificial capacity? we need to promote ourselves to get the rates up
I believe you are correct Blizzard. In my situation, I drive for an owner who pays me 55 cpm plus ALL xtras. I only buy fuel. So my thirds becomes 33-40% for fuel, and the rest to me. The owner covers all the maint, ins, Qual comm, occupational ins. So actually I make out okay. But it seems to be easier to get loads, also. Either the freight has picked up, there's fewer vans on the road, or a combination of both.
What company do you drive for? Some carriers have a lot of freight. That 55 cents per mile is rough unless you are getting good fuel mileage. I used to pay my driver between 55 and 60 CPM, plus all of the bonuses. It would average out around 60 CPM with all of the deadhead bonuses and the occasional higher rate per mile. But it's hard to make money on 30 CPM to the owner. One breakdown can wipe out five months of profits. I made money because the van was paid for and I didn't have any breakdowns. But both of my drivers ran the van into the ground. Returned it with 25 percent oil pressure and never let me know what was going on with the thing. When you put a driver in your truck, all bets are off. You will have your truck tore up if you don't inspect it once a month, or monitor the oil pressure and engine temperature.
I had a friend pick my van up and it was sitting in my former drivers back yard completely out of fuel with a dead battery. I had my friend bring five gallons of gas and a battery charger with him. That is why I'm out of the cargo van owner business. There isn't enough money in it for the owner, and the drivers are not always that good. It would be something to do if you just wanted to break even, or lose money so that you can offset your tax return if you have a really high paying job. But to make a living off of it would be really hard to do unless you run junk vans and only repair them when they are absolutely falling apart.
Entering this business well capitalized and being in it for a few years helps one survive the slow periods. Its kinda like farming. Good years, bad years. We deal with many forces that we have no control over. Too bad the government doesn't subsidize expediters like they do farmers for producing milk and corn. I wouldn't mind getting subsidized for hauling certain products. Even better would be getting paid to not haul freight like the USDA's PIK program that paid farmers not to grow stuff. Yeah, I could do that!
what really needs to happen is to get back to the good old days when shippers called carriers direct based on the merits of the carrier.
also, carriers pretty much know what each other bid on loads, so why not quit trying to out bid each other and keep driving the rates lower and lower. much of this is done by carriers of non quality who know this is their only way to get freight. haul it cheaper than a quality carrier. if they would all pick a bottom line that is profitable and not cross it rates would be better. dont give the bid boards and brokers a choice of price only a choice of carrier.
also, carriers pretty much know what each other bid on loads, so why not quit trying to out bid each other and keep driving the rates lower and lower. much of this is done by carriers of non quality who know this is their only way to get freight. haul it cheaper than a quality carrier. if they would all pick a bottom line that is profitable and not cross it rates would be better. dont give the bid boards and brokers a choice of price only a choice of carrier.
My owner's been a Kitty Kat since they started up so he is at a higher rate. He also owns multiple vans, has other interests outside of expediting so all his eggs aren't in one basket. He is very particular as to the drivers he hires so he is not left out in the cold with an abandoned van.
Murraycroexp
Veteran Expediter
I coined a phrase about 5-6 years ago..... "It only takes one ***** bidding on every load to knock 25% off of what every carrier & truck makes." I'm not in the habit of quoting myself but this issue has only gotten worse over the last few years. I've since chopped the phrase to "It only takes one *****..."
Desperate carriers and the "yellow trucks" will have to fall by the wayside before the market correction occurs.
Desperate carriers and the "yellow trucks" will have to fall by the wayside before the market correction occurs.